Four ballot questions will be considered by voters Tuesday, the first involving an election policy and the subsequent three on whether to bond for three Haines Borough School capital improvement projects.
Proposition 1 would abolish the “40-percent rule” requiring candidates to receive at least 40 percent of the vote to be seated.
Propositions 2-4 are bond measures for school capital improvement projects, including replacement of the high school roof, vocational education building mechanical upgrades and air handling unit replacement.
According to a July 22 letter from the Department of Education and Early Development, all three projects have been approved for 70 percent reimbursement from the state. That would leave borough residents on the hook for 30 percent of the cost.
A mistake was made last week when the borough submitted a newspaper advertisement containing numbers that indicated residents would be responsible for far less of the project cost than is actually the case.
school board member Anne Marie Palmieri is urging residents to approve the bonds. “Who’s to say the state will continue the (70-percent) reimbursement program in the future? If we can capitalize on that opportunity now, I think we need to do it. Those projects are going to have to be done anyway,” Palmieri said.
Proposition 2 asks residents whether or not the borough should bond for $1.7 million in mechanical upgrades to the school’s vocational education building. The borough is approved for 70 percent funding by the state, meaning the borough would be on the hook for about $513,000, plus 4.2 percent interest over a 20-year period.
According to school superintendent Ginger Jewell, the building’s mechanical systems, built in 1978, have reached or exceeded their service life. Improvements would include renovation of the fire suppression sprinkler system, replacement of emergency wash equipment, installation of exhaust systems and a new power distribution system.
Proposition 3 is for replacement of the high school air handling unit. The $412,367 project has already been completed, but if passed, the proposition would allow the borough to be paid back for 70 percent of the project.
Proposition 4 is for the $1,814,747 roof replacement. If approved, the borough would be responsible for 30 percent of that, or $544,000, plus 4.2 percent interest over a 20-year period.
The project would replace the existing roof with a new EPDM or PVC roof. The work includes removal and disposal of the existing roof, contingency for unforeseen rot replacement needs and additional roof drains to mitigate standing water on the roof surface.
Proponents of Proposition 1, which would eliminate the “40-percent rule,” claim that after switching from a seat system to a roster-style ballot last year, the rule becomes irrelevant.
Assembly member Debra Schnabel, who spearheaded adopting the roster system, strongly supports elimination of the rule. “When you have a roster method, everybody is running against each other, so the highest vote-getter wins regardless of the percentage that they have achieved,” Schnabel said.
Under the current system, a candidate must receive at least 40 percent of the vote to be elected.
Other communities in Southeast that use the roster method do not have a 40-percent rule. Skagway, Ketchikan and Sitka all seat assembly candidates based on who gets the highest number of votes, regardless of the percentage achieved.
Though residents will be voting on whether to eliminate the rule Tuesday, it still will apply to this year’s election, said clerk Julie Cozzi.
“I don’t really believe a run-off election is likely, although it is certainly mathematically possible. I don’t think it will be hard for two of the five to get at least 40 percent,” Cozzi said.
If none of the five assembly candidates receives 40 percent of the vote, the top four would vie for seats in a run-off election. If only one receives 40 percent, that person would be seated and the two other candidates who received the most votes would participate in a run-off.
Because percentages are calculated on the number of votes, not number of voters, residents are urged to follow ballot directions or risk having the power of their vote diluted.
A voter who only votes for one candidate in the assembly election loses half the weight of his ballot for use determining the 40 percent needed to get elected, because the total number of votes is divided by two (the number of seats available).